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UN ashamed over Rwandan genocide says Ban Ki-moon

The UN is still ashamed over its failure to prevent the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, UN chief Ban Ki-moon has said.

He was addressing thousands of people in the capital, Kigali, as Rwanda began a week of official mourning to mark the 20th anniversary of the genocide.

Many people were overcome by emotion during the ceremony, with some suffering fits.

At least 800,000 people – mostly ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus – died at the hands of Hutu extremists.

The killings ended ended in July 1994 when the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Tutsi-led rebel movement, marched into Kigali and seized control of the country.

Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and Mr Ban lit a torch which will burn for 100 days – the length of time the genocide lasted.

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Zamfara Cattle Rustlers blamed for Nigeria gun attack

Seventy-nine people are said to have been killed in northern Nigeria, in an attack blamed by police on gunmen from the Fulani community.

The attack targeted a meeting of community leaders and vigilante groups in Galadima village, Zamfara state, a police spokesman told AFP news agency.

The meeting was discussing action against robbers and cattle rustlers.

Fulani herdsmen and farmers from other ethnic groups have frequently clashed in Nigeria over land and faith.

At least 100 villagers were killed in central Kaduna state last month in an attack that was also linked to a dispute between local farmers and the semi-nomadic Fulani herdsmen.

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When Secret Service agents go rogue

US Secret Service agents are responsible for keeping the president safe and traditionally have a stellar reputation. Recently, though, they have been embroiled in scandal.

A Secret Service agent reportedly got drunk and passed out in the hallway of an Amsterdam hotel before President Barack Obama arrived in the Netherlands this week.

Officials said he was sent home for “disciplinary reasons”. The agent was part of the Secret Service’s Counter Assault Team, according to the Washington Post.

 

He is not the only one who has been in trouble. Here is a look at five other incidents that have marred the record of the White House’s praetorian guard.

A bullet left behind

Agent Ignacio Zamora met a woman at a bar at the Hay-Adams, a hotel in Washington, in June 2013 and went to her room. She saw that he had a weapon and asked him to leave.

Later she found a bullet in the room – one that he had left behind. Authorities were told about the incident.

During their investigation they found that he had been sending sexually suggestive emails to someone who worked for the Secret Service.

He was taken off the president’s security duty.

A fight over money

Agents arrived in Cartagena, Colombia, in April 2012 – shortly before Mr Obama’s arrival. They went to a bar. Some of them reportedly paid $60 (£38) apiece to the owner and then brought prostitutes back to their hotel.

The next morning one of the women said that they still owed her money. They got into a loud argument at the hotel, and the police were notified.

Secret Service officials promised they would look into the incident. Agent Zamora – who later got into trouble because he left a bullet in a woman’s hotel room – helped to lead the investigation of misconduct in Colombia.

Some lawmakers said that they did not think he was the right person to investigate misbehaviour among agents.

“This is like the fox guarding the hen house,” said Senator Ron Johnson, who is a Republican from Wisconsin, in a statement to the BBC.

Senator Johnson said: “This type of behaviour jeopardises the security of the president of the United States and makes US government personnel susceptible to coercion and blackmail.”

A spokesman for the Secret Service declined to comment.

 White House party crashers

Three agents allowed a couple from Virginia, Tareq and Michaele Salahi, into the first state dinner hosted by Mr Obama in November 2009 – apparently without an invitation.

The Salahis became celebrities, appearing on The Real Housewives of DC. The agents were put on administrative leave.

Caught in a prostitution sting

An off-duty officer driving in a vehicle with Secret Service markings was arrested in Washington when he tried to solicit a prostitute in 2008, according to USA Today. The prostitute was actually an undercover law-enforcement officer.

Officials said that the Secret Service agent faced administrative action.

Please return to owner

Two agents visited a skateboarding store in Salt Lake City, Utah, in February 2002, before the Winter Olympics. They bought nine Olympic hats, according to the New York Times, and left.

Afterwards the store owner found some papers on the counter – security details for Vice-President Dick Cheney and his family, describing where the agents would be posted during the Games.

A spokesman for the Secret Service said that the agents were careless – but that the vice-president and his family had not been in danger.